Orion's Jewel
Orion's Jewel, the first planet away from the small red dwarf Barnard's Star and slightly smaller than Earth, is the third legal Republic World that maintains seats in the World Parliament. Originally, the planet much like Mars - covered with a broken down brownish-rock substance. It would become the first planet to be completely terraformed and populated, creating an artificial atmosphere to breath and ground to settle and plant crops. Since larger amounts of oxygen were already present within the atmosphere, entire continents of moss were planted to release nitrogen into the soil, and thus, into the air, equalizing or eliminating the other airborne chemicals. In just over 100 years, the planet was ready for human populations and a reintroduced Terran biosphere. Living in symbiosis with Orion's Jewel, only thee region-sprawling metropolii and a host of smaller outposts dot the planet, with the rest of the available landscape preserved for the fledgling animal kingdom. This legal-encoded animal reservation, as a result, prompted many humans to live in artificial gravity orbital stations, and even a small minority of humans to tweak their bodies to be designed to live in zero-gee environments with no long term physical damage. In recent years, Orion's Jewel, especially at the capital of Horizon, has become a haven for while-collar criminals and a possible headquarters to The Royal Society. While heavily regulated and policed, many criminals come within the organization itself, entranced by the flow of goods and the profits to be made off of those goods before they even hit the shelves. By using intimidation and extortion, many commercial vessels must pay extraordinarily large dock fees at the risk of having the cargo spoil or be redundant at the customs office. While many busts have been made, it is impossible to keep track of all offenders, as many people still live in fear of having their companies shut down or subject to incredulous, but effective, libel. The Historic District On Orion's Jewel, there exists a smaller continent, about half the size of Australia, that is known as the Historic District. During the Global Dark Age, much of the architectural evidence of human civilization had been destroyed or crumbled over the thousands of years of environmental destruction. When humanity finally emerged at the foundation of the Republic, nothing existed on Earth that was before the 22nd Century. Many historians, fascinated by the prospect of obtaining ancient city schematics pulled from the Great Library, decided to create these ancient cities once again, and populate them. Purchasing the continent from the Republic once the planet was finally terraformed, the region was divided into ten sections, each containing a city from Antiquity, and what the countryside of those cities would look like. Cities such as imperial Rome, imperial Xianyang, and ancient Thebes were constructed, the city itself taking up little of the space and the ancient countryside using the most - essentially mimicking these ancient human civilizations altogether. Citizens of these cities are like any other city, having Extranet access, election of civil officers, modern dress, and a rich culture: all of which housed by a very ancient, and "retro" looking city. It is a strange lifestyle that many enjoy, preferring the tranquil atmosphere and simplicity the Historic District offers them. =Glythe: Moon= Glythe, the moon of Orion's Jewel, was originally used as a jump point during the terraformation process several hundred years ago. However, as the planet went into the colonization phase of it's settlement, the idea of self-sufficient permanently-manned moonbases fell out of favor to orbital habitats and terrestrial colonies. Today, however, Glythe is mined for it's underground sources of iridium and exotic matter, critical resources in ship production and FTL. Those resources are highly guarded, and should not be approached lightly. Infrastructure Basic Economic Infrastructure x10 * &5,000 Republic Credit/week each * &50,000 Republic Credit/week total Moderate Economic Infrastructure x5 * &20,000 Republic Credit/week each * &100,000 Republic Credit/week total Major Economic Infrastructure x2 * &100,000 Republic Credit/week each * &200,000 Republic Credit/week total Total Income Per Week: &350,000 Category:Planets Category:Humans